The Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund generously supports breast cancer research at the Rush Cancer Institute. To date, the fund has given more than $4 million to Rush. Funds come from friends and admirers of Brian Piccolo and his family. And, thanks to a partnership forged between Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey with her husband Ed, who passed away in 2003, and the NFL, a portion of NFL players' fines come to the fund each year.

Since 1991, the Piccolo fund and Rush have worked together to develop and test many innovative treatments for breast cancer patients. For example:

• Rush was a lead participant in trials for Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody that was shown to slow the progression of cancer and increase tumor shrinkage in women with metastatic breast cancer.
• A Rush surgeon pioneered the use of interstitial laser therapy, which uses laser energy delivered through a needle to treat small breast cancer tumors. The procedure may ultimately offer an alternative to lumpectomy for some patients.
• Rush is also involved in STAR, one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever undertaken. The trial compares the effectiveness of two medications -- Tamoxifen and Raloxifene -- to see which might be more effective in preventing breast cancer among women who are at high risk for the disease.
• Researchers at Rush are testing antiangiogenic therapy, a relatively new treatment that starves breast cancer tumors by cutting off the blood supply that feeds them. With support from the Piccolo fund, Rush is establishing a new breast cancer research center focused on translational research.

The exciting work being done at Rush, with the support of the Piccolo fund, is helping to change the way doctors treat women with breast cancer. And the fight against this insidious disease will continue until a cure is found.